- Preliminary premium volume written in 2008 increased by 10% to EUR 5,803 million
-Premium growth thereby nearly three times as high as in 2007
-Eastern European business increased by nearly 56% in above-average growth
-Degree of internationalisation already increased to 38%

According to preliminary data, the UNIQA Group achieved around EUR 5,803 million (2007: EUR 5,276 million) in premiums written during the past financial year (incl. savings portions from unit- and index-linked life insurance), resulting in growth of 10.0%. The increase in sales is therefore nearly three times as high as in 2007. The strongest growth impulses also came from the markets of Eastern and South Eastern Europe in the past year, as well as from life insurance.

The Group companies in Eastern and South Eastern Europe increased their premium volume by 55.5%, to around EUR 1,269 million (2007: EUR 816 million). The UNIQA Group has therefore grown around twice as quickly in this region in 2008 than in the previous year. During the course of this strong growth, the share of Eastern and South Eastern European business within the Group premium volume jumped to 22% (2007: 16%).

In Austria, the Group also achieved satisfactory growth of 2.3% in 2008, with a premium volume of EUR 3,599 million (2007: EUR 3,517 million). In the rest of the Western European markets, income declined slightly by 0.8% to EUR 934 million (2007: EUR 942 million) during the course of the deterioration of the life insurance market in Italy. According to the preliminary 2008 figures, the entire foreign business of the UNIQA Group already reached a share of 38% (2007: 33%) of Group premiums.

Life insurance
The development of life insurance was also characterised by a very strong dynamic in the companies in Eastern and South Eastern Europe in 2008. They were able to nearly double their premium volume to EUR 557 million (2007: EUR 285 million) (+95.8%). In Austria, the premiums rose by around 2.1% to EUR 1,556 million (2007: EUR 1,525 million). The growth of unit-linked life insurance was disproportionately high. In Western Europe, the premiums from life insurance fell by 2.7% to EUR 351 million (2007: EUR 360 million) due to the deteriorating market in Italy. The share of international companies in the Group premiums was therefore already at nearly 37% (2007: 30%). In total, the premiums written of the UNIQA Group in life insurance rose favourably by 13.6% to EUR 2,465 million (2007: EUR 2,170 million) – their share in the total business increased further to around 42% in 2008, according to the preliminary data.

Property and casualty insurance
The preliminary premiums written in property and casualty insurance in 2008 were around 7.7% above the previous year's value at EUR 2,368 million (2007: EUR 2,198 million). The Eastern and South Eastern European region also showed the strongest growth impulses in this sector, with premium growth of 26.7% to EUR 669 million (2007: EUR 528 million). In Austria, growth in this segment was at 2.1% – the premiums reached EUR 1,294 million (2007: EUR 1,268 million). In view of the general market situation, satisfactory premium growth was achieved on the Western European markets, from 0.8% to EUR 405 million (2007: EUR 402 million). The share of the Eastern and South Eastern European business already amounted to around 28% in property and casualty insurance in 2008 (2007: 24%), the share of all international business was 45% (2007: 42%).

Health insurance
The preliminary consolidated premiums of the UNIQA Group in health insurance in 2008 were around 6.8% above the previous year's value at EUR 970 million (2007: EUR 908 million). In Austria, the premium volume grew by around 3.3% to EUR 748 million (2007: EUR 724 million). In international business, the premiums written were increased by 20.7% to EUR 222 million (2007: EUR 184 million). This means that roughly 23% (2007: 20%) of the health insurance premiums originate from the markets outside of Austria.